AUSTIN — "Music is my soul."
It was a believable statement from an artist, whose humbleness radiated from her pores as much as it did from her gritty, yet raspy singing voice.
Dressed down in a plain black shirt and camouflage red and black pants, Bishop Briggs started her performance off slow on the first day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, using an acapella opening verse to grab the audience by the ears before cranking up an electronic, playful beat.
There's no secret that Briggs, whose music blends the genres of electronic, folk and pop, has an impressive vocal ability and is certainly worthy of attention.
With each song, the 26-year-old hyped up the eager crowd with her songs about perseverance and strength and by running across the stage, jumping and taking time to tell her story about her professional music breakthrough.
PHOTOS: ACL 2018 Weekend 1 kicks off in Austin
The crowd was her cheerleader, expanding in size with each speech and stunning note.
"I can't believe I'm here," Briggs said. "I'm going to try and make it through this set without crying."
But -- that didn't happen.
The artist, whose debut song "White Horses" garnered her massive mainstream attention, has a firm grasp on her roots and hasn't forgotten that she used to play coffee shops, filled with only a few people at a time.
It's a sharp contrast from the ACL Festival American Express stage, which attracted a hefty crowd to her 1:45 p.m. show Friday.
Tearfully, Briggs told the audience she was in disbelief that she was opening for Paul McCartney, "Never in my wildest dreams. This is more than I could ever imagine."
McCartney, whose headlining the ACL Music Festival Friday night of both weekends, is set to perform on the same stage as Briggs at 7:45 p.m.
After her humble revelation, Briggs sang her song called "Never Give Up." Her demanding voice and endearing energy pulled the crowd closer to her.
It didn't even matter that the lyrics to most of her songs didn't appear to be widely known by the audience.
That didn't stop the crowd from trying to learn and sing along.
However, when she performed her hit song "White Flag," it was clear that was the moment the crowd was waiting for, showing Briggs she could take a break as many sang along to the beat.
Chelsea Cunningham is a digital producer at KVUE. Follow her coverage throughout weekend one of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Twitter: @chelseactv.